tikva records for san francisco bay guardian

Tradition!

A Jewish record store is coming to the Mission — briefly

Row after row of sentimental — sometimes kitschy, sometimes renowned — vinyl albums are lining pristine white walls in a small storefront, waiting for the opening of a record store that will exist for just one month [...]

mark sultan for san francisco bay guardian

Mark Sultan (BBQ) on vitamins, 'Seinfeld,' and the death of rock'n'roll

Mark Sultan is an embattled crusader for true rock'n'roll. Though in prose, he'll have you believe that it must be destroyed – to save it from itself [...]

from the back of the room for san francisco bay guardian

XX hardcore

Female punks step out From the Back of the Room in new doc

When Blatz, a political punk band connected to all-ages Berkeley music venue 924 Gilman Street Project (the Gilman), was looking for a girl singer to join the act in 1990, it wound up with two new additions [...]

turntable kitchen for san francisco bay guardian

Maximum Consumption: the Turntable Kitchen interview

I'd venture a guess that no one in this town knows the frosting tipped appeal of hand-mixing music and food more than the couple behind Turntable Kitchen. What started one year ago as a simple (yet highly aesthetically pleasing) website mashing up recipes and records, has grown into a celebrated multi-headed creative output machine, with food+music news, event sponsoring, giveaways, and the newly added physical pairings boxes – on top of the drool-inducing/stunning posts [...]

goldies: dirty cupcakes for san francisco bay guardian

GOLDIES 2011: Dirty Cupcakes

"We didn't even have a band, but we had the name."

It was the summery music video that launched a thousand bubblegum crushes. Guitarist-vocalist Lauren Matsui, drummer Laura Gravander, and bassist Sola Morrissey, a.k.a the Dirty Cupcakes, adorably lust after unrequited love. The cute boy of their dreams prefers other boys, and he sexily smooches another man, while the girls swoon from different spots around San Francisco, including a Sandy-in-Grease bedroom scene. "I feel like it's a San Francisco thing to be in love with a gay man, or somebody that you can't have," says Matsui [...]

goldies: religious girls for san francisco bay guardian

GOLDIES 2011: Religious Girls

The arty noise act's music is that of the futurist multitasker

If they suddenly became stupidly rich, the trio behind Oakland's Religious Girls would purchase a warehouse to turn into an all-ages venue/home-recording studio, with maybe some laser tag. Or they'd buy a food cart. If that isn't the epitome of the modern Bay Area band, I don't what is [...]

jhameel for san francisco bay guardian

Beautiful pop

The many sides of up-and-coming virtuoso Jhameel

I half-expect Jhameel to be sporting face paint whiskers swiped across his cheeks as I walk up to meet him at Cafe Strada near the UC Berkeley campus. Lyrically, he's inspired by Ben Gibbard, musically by Sufjan Stevens, but aesthetically, it's early Bowie [...]

water borders for san francisco bay guardian

Mood setters

Water Borders draw out the inherit creep of vintage film

Water Borders, a gloomy beat-driven San Francisco band with a new release (Harbored Mantras) on Tri Angle Records, spent the past few weekends practicing the art of creating atmosphere for obscure vintage films [...]

live shots: hans-joachim roedelius for san francisco bay guardian

Hans-Joachim Roedelius celebrates his 77th birthday at Cafe Du Nord

“What a cerebral evening,” a show companion observed as we exited Cafe Du Nord last night, pushing the doors open to a whoosh of cool fall air. Indeed. For the man who's seen it all, first as a child actor in 1930s Germany, then as a reluctant member of the Hitler Youth, and finally a pioneer of early experimental krautrock in the 1970s and ambient jazz, Hans-Joachim Roedelius (Cluster/Harmonia) was not the confrontational artist one might expect. Tall and bald with wire-rimmed glasses, he was erudite, pleasant, subdued [...]

creole choir of cuba for san francisco bay guardian

Strength of song

The Creole Choir of Cuba — and other global music acts — hit SF

In Cuba, there is just one group that specializes in traditional Haitian songs — the Creole Choir of Cuba. "Some of the songs in our repertoire are those we learned from our parents or grandparents, others we learned during the many visits we have made to Haiti," says choir director Emilia Diaz Chavez, through translator Kelso Riddell.

big harp for san francisco bay guardian

Big Harp on writing lyrics, Saddle Creek, and touring with kids

I listened to Big Harp's debut album, White Hat, without any preconceived notions, and fell in drippy, folky, love. I fell into the slight country twang and gentle plucking of baritone singer-guitarist Chris Senseney, and the sweet backing vocals of bassist Stefanie Drootin-Senseney [...]

budget rock for san francisco bay guardian

The last hurrah

It's time to say goodbye to Budget Rock

On the final day of Budget Rock 10, the endmost moment of the Budget Rock showcase itself, there will be pancakes and local '80s surf-punk band the Phantom Surfers. Likely a few tear stained cheeks as well [...]

war on drugs for san francisco bay guardian

Battle hymns
The War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel keeps his finger on America's pulse

On the winding beach roads of Central California, in the cool coastal stillness of midnight, I remembered what the music hive mind spewed forth when it came to recently released record (and previous albums) from Philadelphia's the War on Drugs: road trip music [...]

treasure island festival for san francisco bay guardian

Island time

From Angolan kuduro and gauzy psychedelia to local garage punk and silent disco: It'll be a packed weekend of Treasure Island Music Festival's chords and beats

Now in its fifth year, the Treasure Island Festival maintains a mystifying balance: it's both big enough to attract larger acts (Death Cab for Cutie, Empire of the Sun), and small enough to make the event feel intimate (with eyes closed, it's you alone dancing in the Silent Disco). There are rarely timing issues, one act stops, another begins. Precision and organization enrich a festival, whodathunk [...]

gardens & villa for san francisco bay guardian

Mystic wanderings

Gardens & Villa navigates the road often traveled

Hermann Hesse's 1930 novel Narcissus and Goldmund is, more or less, the story of man who wanders Medieval Germany after leaving the monastery in search of the meaning of life. He finds organic pleasures like art and the empowering touch of beautiful women. Eventually given the choice of joining an artists guild, he bows out, instead favoring the freedom of the road less traveled [...]